September 11 & 12, 2020 - event cancelled

While we are pressing pause on 2020, we hope you will come play in the streets during the 2021 festival on September 10 and 11, 2021.

"The decision was not made lightly, but in the end the Historic Morganton Festival, Inc. Board of Directors decided to hit the pause button for 2020. Instead the time will be used to focus our energies on smaller promotions throughout the year. Due to COVID -19 and the phased reopening’s being much slower than expected, there really was no choice but to make plans to hold the next Morganton Festival September 10 and 11, 2021.

The Board felt strongly that there was simply no way to have thousands of attendees in 8 blocks of downtown and provide any safe social distancing. As our retailers, restaurants and bars struggle to re-open while managing customers counts, safety and food product availability, it was quickly recognized that the added stress of a large event would not be feasible.

The Morganton Festival is not planned in a month, rather it is a year round process. All of our contracts with deposits would have to be in place by June 1, and with our big contracts confirmed even earlier in the year the deadline had approached to send final deposits. Our annual sponsors who have also been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis are in place by March of each year. But how do you ask a loyal sponsor for money when they are concerned with day to day business and keeping their own people employed?

In the end the smart thing to do was to pass on this year. Again we will be doing smaller events more often over the next 4 to 6 months. Downtown Morganton is excited to get back open safely and looks forward to seeing everyone at the various events being planned. Look for upcoming events on www.downtownmorganton.com"

D2U NEWSLETTER

The City of Morganton Main Street Department is a designated North Carolina Main Street community. The City of Morganton Main Street Department, in collaboration with the N.C. Department of Commerce Main Street & Rural Planning Center, is charged with the administration and coordination of the Main Street program at the local level.

As a Main Street America™ Accredited program, the City of Morganton Main Street Department is a recognized leading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. All Main Street America™ Accredited programs meet a set of National Accreditation Standards of Performance as outlined by the National Main Street Center.